Do you want to learn what’s in a resume, how to write a good resume, what’s in a resume cover letter, and what’s in a resume on LinkedIn? How a good GIS resume could land you your first GIS job?

Many recent GIS graduates spend their days looking around the web for their first job, and have little success. They send off job application after job application, and some even resort to sending off unsolicited email after email…just in case someone has some work that they haven’t advertised yet. This is just “hopeful” and about as focused as a pizza flier in your mailbox.

Months down the track, they still don’t have a job. That’s understandable because Recent GIS Graduates usually have little (if any) relevant work experience. Fortunately, that’s a problem that can often be overcome in two simple ways…

In your GIS resume, making any jobs you have done (even hospitality) relevant to the job you want to do.

Marketing yourself on social media and at industry events

A knock-em-dead GIS resume is not the only key to job-hunting success

Many recent GIS graduates think that the key to job-hunting success is having a knock-em-dead GIS resume. That used to be the case, but these days job hunting success requires much more than that. Social media and big data techniques have added another layer of complexity to it. Not only do you need to know what’s in a resume and present it in a way that’s relevant to the job you’re applying for, you also need to be able to present this information so that “big data” and automated website scrapers can easily make sense of it.

You need to have a web presence that’s “optimized” so that prospective employers can easily find you. That means you need a LinkedIn presence that web-bots can easily harvest – a presence that makes you appear relevant to prospective employers when they look you up. Its important that you understand that a crafted LinkedIn profile is multi-faceted in its use. Its not just a communication tool and something web-bots can harvest, it also sends a message to a prospective employer that you can communicate effectively.

What GIS Graduates do wrong when they’re searching for jobs

Over the years I have helped many people apply for jobs (every one of them got an interview), I have interviewed many people, I have evaluated tenders on behalf of government, and in my consulting life I have won many tenders.

From my observations, there are many ways job applicants let themselves down. Most often they fail to make their skillset relevant to the job they’re applying for, or they simply fail to address the job description and the job’s selection criteria. Job applicants often fail to realize that a prospective employer will have a mountain of applications to wade through. That means that it is important that you make your application easy for an employer to evaluate.

Most job requests I get from new graduates are terrible!

I constantly get unsolicited employment requests from new graduates – sometimes two a week.

I remember being a new graduate looking for work, so I understand that constant rejection can be a tough thing to take for job seekers. I often look the applicant up on LinkedIn in the hope that I can at least give them some job-seeking guidance.

Almost without exception these, obviously very motivated people, not only fail to tailor their request to the type of work I do (meaning they have not researched my business before sending me their GIS resume), but they also have NO professional profile on LinkedIn beyond their name and perhaps the fact that they are a university student.

Here’s some things you can do right

You need to put yourself into an employer’s boots and understand that employing someone is a BIG THING, not just financially, but its also very time consuming. As a job applicant, you need to make the decision-journey for an employer an easy one…

You need to research the company you want to employ you and tailor your resume and any correspondence to “that” company. That’s right, you don’t send the same resume out to 100 different potential employers. I regularly receive thoughtless resumes. I find them offensive and simply a waste of my time and the applicant’s. That’s right…you tailor your resume and cover letter to make it relevant to each potential employer. Its a lot of work, but who ever said that getting a job was easy!

You must complete your LinkedIn profile. You may not think you have any relevant work experience, but have you thought about talking about relevant University projects? You could upload project abstracts and explain why you found the project interesting. Or, volunteer for relevant community work so you can talk about that work, and perhaps get a personal reference as well. You need to demonstrate that you’re interested and engaged. That you have something to offer and that you can be trained.

Ease off on Facebook for a while. If someone is really interested in employing you then they may also look you up on Facebook (I would). They need to know that you’re not making tens of posts a day (particularly inappropriate ones). This makes them confident that you wont be on social media when you should be working, and that you won’t be saying bad things about your workplace.

Here’s and example of a GIS graduate who did it right!

Last year I was looking for a short-term intern and I came across a thread in a forum where students were discussing their search for an internship. I checked out every student in the thread…before contacting the ONLY student who had completed their LinkedIn profile. The way they filled in their LinkedIn profile demonstrated to me that they were interested, thoughtful, and likely professional in their approach to work. He removed a fair amount of risk and work for me up-front. Perhaps other students in the thread were equally or better qualified, but in the absence of a completed LinkedIn profile that demonstrated to me that the person’s limited experience was relevant to the work I wanted them to do, I had no way of knowing that.

So, I hired the intern who then went on to work for me solidly for the next three months. He then had something GIS related to put on his resume and also an industry referee.

Why I wrote this post

I have written this post out of absolute frustration at the many un-focussed GIS resumes I receive. I have also made the effort to find a course that will help you write your GIS resume and also help you market yourself to potential employers.

The course I’m recommending will not only teach you the latest techniques for writing your GIS resume, but also how to find jobs in job search engines, better interview techniques, how to effectively negotiate your salary packages, and how to be your Personal-Best at professional networking.

The following is my review of David and Ludel Jones’ “(2017) Career Hacking: Resume, LinkedIn, Interviewing” course that consists of 6 hours of online on-demand videos, and 27 sample resumes that you can modify to suit your needs. It is clear to me (based on the number of people I have helped write resumes) that most people already have all the things that need to go into their resume at their disposal. They just need someone to show them what’s in a resume, and how to organize, format and communicate it. I think this course will help you with that.

Resume, cover letter, and LinkedIn® summary banks for a variety of professional backgrounds

and much more–the course is frequently updated

Testimonials for the Career Hacking Course

The (2017) Career Hacking: Resume, LinkedIn, Interviewing” course is used by the career centres at the EDHEC Global MBA program in France and the California State University business schools. Here’s a selection of the course’s 900+ five star reviews from the more than 13,500 enrolled students. Many of the lengthy reviews are from very grateful students…

This course has been an absolutely saving grace. I have been job searching for over a year now to find a career related to my degree in marketing, however with my lack of experience – I have not received any hits. After taking this course, I have learned how to better align my skills and resume contents to be optimized for my specific job search. I have taken the steps explained for restructuring my resume, creating a new cover letter, and revamping my LinkedIn profile. I look forward to moving forth with this advice and start a whole new job search. I greatly appreciate all of the effort that was put into this course and I look forward to seeing where the new knowledge takes me in my career! Alyssa (July 2017)

This course has helped me optimize my LinkedIn and resume so well! After taking the advice of this course and applying it to my own resume and LinkedIn account, I am receiving more contacts for interviews in my Job Search. Kevin (June 2017)

Content – Spot on. Just what I needed to rethink and re-engineer my approach to my ongoing mid-career growth effort. Davis has completely changed my thinking about what matters in a job search, and how to present the right information in the most compelling ways possible – from building that lean, mean resume and cover letter, to maximizing the impact of your LinkedIn profile. Lots of good stuff there, and very little left unexplored in this very thorough course.

Presentation – Davis and the Eazl team have put a great deal of time and effort into presenting this vital information in an appropriately paced and visually appealing format – amazingly managing to forgo a lot of fluff in the process. One of the best Udemy courses I’ve experienced in this regard.

I would recommend this course without reservation for anyone who could use some guidance on how to take their career to the next level. There are few guarantees in this world, but I think this course does a fine job of helping one make the most of their opportunities. Matt Markley (June 2017)

Here’s what you get in the Career Hacking course

You get to eavesdrop as David and Ludell work, and gain insights into what’s in a resume, what’s in a resume cover letter, what’s in a resume on LinkedIn, better techniques for finding jobs in job search engines, better interview techniques, being able to effectively negotiate your salary packages, and being the best you can be at professional networking. Without this course you would otherwise likely overlook these things, or possibly never grasp them.

6 hours of training videos.

The course workbooks and templates.

Try “(2017) Career Hacking: Resume, LinkedIn, Interviewing” risk free today and you could have a laser targeted resume and web presence ready-to-go this time next week.. If within 30 days you’re not satisfied with the course for any reason return it for a 100% refund.

Click on the link to take you to the Udemy website and then on the Buy Now button. Be sure to click on the “Take This Course” button on the top right corner.

Please note: I am an affiliate for this course. I am promoting it because I believe it addresses a genuine need for many visitors to my site